Dog Days of Summer

It's August already? What happened to summer? Where have all my baked goods gone?

I love white cake and I've been working on some variations. The moist and tender crumb of Linnea's strawberry layered cake was just about perfect, even if it was a bit lopsided.

Casey's 4 layer lemon blueberry cake was practically perfectly stacked and the flavor was sophisticated, but the crumb a bit dry.

Now, you're probably thinking, next she'll say, "Third time's a charm!" But no, it's still too hot. I skipped the stuffy kitchen and tedious layer slicing to make Jason a cool and creamy cheesecake that had a hard time coming out of its pan.

So all in all, I am not yet ready to give you the recipes. They still need some work and my kitchen is still too hot...

Continued yoga and hiking has granted me the ability to eat extra, guilt free baked goods this summer so I have been sampling as many as possible! Thus far the standout has been an almond croissant from the Butterhorn Bakery in Frisco. I was also pleasantly surprised to find a few baked good booths at the South Pearl Street Farmers Market, and MANY samples.

I would never say I could compete with Watercourse but think it would be possible to outdo the cookie and giant cupcake ladies...

My summer has not been filled with long, lazy days. I'm a grownup. But it has been exTREMEly fun. On the counter is homemade pancake mix, made especially for camping, and vegan vanilla cupcakes. Stay cool and stay tuned :)

Boston is Filled With Bakeries

I am waaaaaaaay behind on sharing about all of the incredible things I have eaten lately so we’ll start with Boston. Boston is full of Bakeries. I'm pretty darn sure I gained 5 pounds in 3 days as I ate my way through the entire South End last weekend with my bestie, Rachel. We walked, walked, walked all OVER that lovely, twisty, brick paved city but when you eat dessert at every meal, it doesn’t really make a difference! I guess I don't mind too much though becasue we all deserve to over indulge every once in a while. Especially when celebrating a birthday ;)

Let’s start with the South End Buttery. Isn’t it lovely?


This corner café emits welcoming warmth with its fresh flowers, large windows, soft lighting and friendly staff.


Before we got our fresh, healthy and local lunch, I scarfed down this awesome chocolate, chocolate, nut and-something-or other cookie. It was awesome.


Then I took home this red velvet cupcake. The cream cheese frosting was a tiny bit too tangy for me but man oh man was the whole thing quite tasty later that night.


Rachel saved the best for last so on my third and final day in the bay state, we went to Flour. We were probably there for almost 2 hours but the waiting in line (twice) and waiting for food in this ridiculously popular café didn't even phase me - I was completely overwhelmed! Hopefully Rachel was the only one to notice my indecision as I stood wide-eyed and salivating at the bakery case, trying to pick my poison. It was impossible to get a picture of the whole counter because we were packed in like sardines, but I hope this gives you an idea of the baked bounty.



Every day Flour serves EVERY baked good you could EVER want. Bread, rolls, scones, doughnuts, pastries, cookies, cupcakes, granola bars, shortbread bars, fruit tarts, mouse, cake, brownies, pie, you name it! I guarantee that any craving you ever have will be satisfied at this place. And they do it up like that EVERY day! I couldn’t believe it. Every single thing was fresh AND gorgeous. It’s everything I think a bakery should be. So once again, as we waited for our fresh and home made breakfasts, I started off with a little dessert!


What's that, you say? An amazing little, eat right away, melt in your mouth, triple chocolate mouse cake!


After breakfast I left Flour with a cheddar and chive scone, brioche au sucre, full belly, giant smile on my face, and this awesome book!



Flour is a wonderful, beautiful and delicious bakery. I know I say this a lot but I just keep finding things that are better than the last. I won't bother to tell you about the so-so trendy cupcakeries that have popped up everywhere but places like this deserve rave reviews. It was an incredible inspiration for me so do yourself a favor and visit the next time you’re in Mass. Happy eating!